Do Negative Role Models Increase Entrepreneurial Intentions? The Moderating Role of Self-Esteem

Social learning theory predicts that negative role models dampen one's enthusiasm to pursue an entrepreneurial career. Empirical studies find that the presence of negative role models does not decrease one's interest in starting a business. This article attempts to reconcile this contradiction. We hypothesized and found in Studies 1 and 2 that observing a business failure decreases one's entrepreneurial intention when the level of self-esteem is low. However, one's preference for an entrepreneurial career is increased when the level of self-esteem is high. Study 3 provides evidence that the self-esteem effect still holds when reference person is different.